5.  The applicant was born in 1953 and lives in Bosanski Brod, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
6.  On 12 December 1983 the Slavonski Brod Office of the Workers’ Pension and Invalidity Insurance Fund (Samoupravna interesna zajednica mirovinskog i invalidskog osiguranja radnika Hrvatske, Područna služba u Slavonskom Brodu, hereinafter “the Republic Workers’ Fund”) recognised the applicant’s reduced capacity for work and ordered his employer, company M., to find him a post suitable to his condition.
7.  On 22 June 1987 the Republic Workers’ Fund issued a decision granting the applicant the right to work part-time on account of his reduced capacity for work, and the right to payment of special benefits for that reason.
8.  After the institution of insolvency proceedings against the company, M., on 13 December 1990 the Republic Workers’ Fund issued a new decision, granting the applicant unemployment benefit with effect from 1 December 1990. In order to retain the benefit the applicant had to report to the Republic Workers’ Fund at regular (monthly) intervals.
9.  On 25 June 1991 the Croatian Parliament declared Croatia independent of Yugoslavia.
10.  According to the applicant’s record in the Republic Workers’ Fund, the applicant reported regularly every month to the Republic Workers’ Fund until 24 March 1992, when he reported by sending a letter. Thereafter, due to the applicant’s non-compliance with the duty to report, the payment of the unemployment benefit was discontinued.
11.  On 9 June 2000 the applicant submitted a request to the Slavonski Brod Office of the Croatian Pension Fund (Hrvatski zavod za mirovinsko osiguranje, Područna služba u Slavonskom Brodu) for payment of unemployment benefits. He argued that because of the escalation of the war in Croatia, following its declaration of independence, he had not been able to come to Croatia after February 1992.
12.  On 5 September 2000 the Slavonski Brod Office of the Croatian Pension Fund issued a decision terminating the applicant’s right to unemployment benefits, and discontinued payments with effect from 31 March 1992. The relevant part of that decision read as follows:
“The insured [the applicant] last contacted the regional office on 24 March 1992. His right to unemployment benefit is therefore terminated and payment of unemployment benefit was discontinued from 31 March 1992, in accordance with section 128 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act.”
13.  The applicant lodged an appeal against the above decision with the Central Office of the Croatian Pension Fund (Hrvatski avod za mirovinsko osiguranje, Središnja služba) on 20 September 2000, arguing that he had been unable to come to Croatia after March 1992 because of the escalating war there. He considered that he should not lose his right to unemployment benefits because of circumstances beyond his control.
14.  On 11 April 2001 the Central Office of the Croatian Pension Fund dismissed the applicant’s appeal. The relevant part of the second-instance decision read as follows:
“The appellant ... submits that before and during the [Homeland] War he had been living in Bosanski Brod and that after March 1992 he could no longer contact the Slavonski Brod Office because of the war. He argues that his right to benefits was terminated because of circumstances beyond his control, within the meaning of section 128 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act.
The appeal is unfounded.
After consulting the entire case file, it was established that the appellant received unemployment benefit from 1 December 1990 on the basis of the first-instance decision of 13 December 1990.
Given that the appellant last contacted the regional office on 24 March 1992, the payment of the unemployment benefit was therefore correctly discontinued by the contested decision with effect from 31 March 1992, in accordance with section 128 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act.”
For the foregoing reasons, the appeal must be dismissed as unfounded.”
15.  On 28 May 2001 the applicant brought an action in the Administrative Court (Upravni sud Republike Hrvatske) contesting the decision of the Central Office of the Croatian Pension Fund. The applicant reiterated that he had been unable to come to Croatia until the end of 2000, because of the war and the suspension of relations between Croatia and the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he lived. He also complained that he had been unable to participate effectively in the administrative proceedings, and that the administrative decision had not been sufficiently reasoned.
16.  The Administrative Court dismissed the applicant’s action on 23 November 2005. The relevant part of the Administrative Court’s judgment reads as follows:
“Section 128 paragraph 1 subparagraph 3 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act provided that an insured [person] who had acquired ... the right to work, with related benefits, would lose that right if he or she did not use it within the specified time, unless he or she was prevented from doing so by circumstances beyond his or her control, and this would apply if he or she terminated their employment relationship without a valid reason, in the job he or she had been provided with or transferred to.
From the case file, in particular from the decision of the Republic Workers’ Fund of 22 June 1987, it follows that the plaintiff was granted, with effect from 22 June 1987, due to illness, the right to work reduced hours ... By a decision of the body of 13 December 1990, the plaintiff was granted unemployment benefit (because insolvency proceedings were pending against the company).
From the reasoning of the first-instance [decision] and the contested [second-instance] decision, it follows that the plaintiff lost the right [to work reduced hours] and [consequently] the right to unemployment benefit, payment of which was discontinued with effect from 31 March 1992, on the basis of section 128 of the above-cited Pension and Disability Insurance Act.
After examining the relevant facts of the present case, this court finds that the contested decision cannot be viewed as incorrect or unlawful. Specifically, it follows from the plaintiff’s statement given before the Slavonski Brod Office of the Croatian Pension Fund on 9 April 2000, and included in the record of the hearing, that he did not contact [that Office] again until June 2000. The last entry in the employment booklet indicates that he was employed until 30 November 1990. The court therefore finds that section 128 paragraph 1 subparagraph 3 of the Pension and Disability Insurance ... is applicable in the present case.”
17.  On 18 March 2006 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) against the Administrative Court’s judgment, complaining, inter alia, that he had been unable to come to Croatia until the end of 2000 because of the escalating war and discontinuation of relations between the part of Bosnia and Herzegovina where he lived (the Republika Srpska entity) and Croatia, that he had not been able to participate effectively in the proceedings before the lower administrative bodies, and that the administrative decisions had not been sufficiently reasoned.
18.  On 3 July 2008 the Constitutional Court dismissed the applicant’s constitutional complaint and endorsed the reasoning of the Administrative Court. This decision was served on the applicant’s representative on 2 September 2008.